University of Pardubice Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

University

Employees
|
Students
Česky

Publication detail

Pastoral and Anti-Pastoral Islands of Crime Fiction

Authors: Roebuck Olga | Bubíková Šárka

Year: 2023

Type of publication: ostatní - přednáška nebo poster

Page from-to: nestránkováno

Titles:

Language	Name	Abstract	Keywords
eng	Pastoral and Anti-Pastoral Islands of Crime Fiction	In the introduction to their groundbreaking study of the presentation of islands in genre literature Island Genres: Genre Islands, Ralph Crane and Lisa Fletcher state that “islands have long been associated with paradise on the one hand, and prison on the other – a dichotomy that is exploited to good effect by many crime writers” (Crane & Fletcher, 2017, p. 6). Our presentation aims to explore if and how this traditional, pastoral depiction of the island still operates in contemporary crime writing. While it appears in P. D. James’s The Lighthouse, her 2005 novel following in the footsteps of the Golden Age of detective fiction, we have identified anti-pastoral approaches in other recent British and American crime fiction. Using Peter May’s The Blackhouse, Robert Harris’s The Ghost, and Philip Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard mysteries, we will show how the contrast between pastoral and anti-pastoral depictions subverts the traditional understanding of island space. Because the British and American traditions of crime fiction have evolved in a mutual dialogue, our presentation employs a comparative approach.	pastoral; anti-pastoral; island studies; crime fiction; island as literary setting